Insurance will be a requirement of your lender. If you do not have a mortgage, then you will want insurance to protect your equity. Insurance is an unavoidable cost of owning real property. Our team's insurance expert is available to give you a free rate quote or provide insurance guidance.
Each Property Owner Has Different Insurance Needs
How much insurance is enough? We have found that the minimum insurance standard that lenders impose is often not adequate. Often, what a lender requires will not cover the cost to reconstruct your property in a catastrophic event. Each property is built to a different standard. This means that one property may only cost $250 per square foot to reconstruct, and another may cost $500 per square foot. Each property owner has different insurance needs. For instance, a multi-unit apartment owner may need an additional umbrella policy to cover their personal liability.
Yet, over-insuring your property produces unnecessary annual insurance expenses. Our insurance expert provides all our customers with a free insurance estimate and advises them on the amount of coverage that is adequate for their specific situation.
Consolidating Your Policies Often Reduces Your Total Insurance Cost
Placing your property, auto, life, and umbrella policies with one insurer can make a substantial saving in your annual insurance expense, while still providing you with the same or even better coverage. Each of our customer’s insurance needs is unique. Thus, we advise that our customers get an insurance quote from our insurance advisor. We get no financial kickbacks or fees from our insurance expert. We use them only because they save our customers money while making sure they get adequate coverage.
Evaluating Your Policy Annually Is a Prudent Practice
One thing is for certain things will change. Our customers start families. The cost of construction rises. The equity in your property rises and falls as our real estate markets change. It is prudent to reassess your insurance needs at the beginning of each year when you pay your policies. Our, insurance expert reviews their customer's policies once a year. Our team of experts is always available to dispense free advice surrounding your insurance needs.
Should You Get Earthquake Insurance?
Earthquake insurance approximately doubles your annual insurance premium. We have also found that the deductibles for earthquake insurance are often very high (usually 1/3 the cost of reconstruction or higher). We recommend that owners who make substantial down payments or have substantial equity in their properties should consider earthquake insurance. Because of the high deductibles and additional annual cost, earthquake insurance is usually not necessary for purchases or owners that only have a small amount of equity in their properties.
